Muriel Newman: Submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill

Submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill close today 19 April just before midnight. The Bill includes a statutory requirement for an iwi representative to be appointed to the four-person Expert Panels, which, in light of the Coalition Government’s commitment to equality before the law, is totally inappropriate.

Below is a copy of the submission sent in by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research.

If you would like to send in a submission but haven’t done so at this stage, please feel free to use the arguments we have presented below - but please ensure you do so IN YOUR OWN WORDS, since copied submissions are usually counted as one.

The submission page for the Bill can be found here: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCENV_SCF_083F0A7B-F182-41D5-0897-08DC3E31559C/fast-track-approvals-bill

 

SUBMISSION: Fast-track Approvals Bill

19 April 2024

Committee Secretariat
Environment Committee
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

Dear Sir,

Thank you for providing the opportunity to make a submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill.

This submission on is on behalf of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, a public policy think tank established in 2005.

While the NZCPR supports the broad thrust of the Bill, we strongly believe that for this legislation to work properly it is crucial that the responsible Ministers have full flexibility when it comes to choosing the membership of the Expert Panels.

Accordingly, we recommend that the statutory roles defined for representatives of local government and iwi on the Panels in Section 3 parts (2), (3), (4) and (5) of Schedule 3 of the Bill should be removed, and instead the membership of the panels should be determined by the joint Ministers on a case-by-case basis.

Furthermore, removing the Statutory requirement for an iwi representative on the Panels, would also ensure that the Coalition Government is not in breach of its stated commitment to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law” and that they “will not advance policies that seek to ascribe different rights and responsibilities to New Zealanders on the basis of their race or ancestry.”

In addition, since the Coalition has also agreed to remove undefined ‘principles’ of the Treaty from legislation, it is inappropriate for the Bill to contain a Statutory requirement for panel members to collectively have “an understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, and an understanding of tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori.”

Again, it should be left up to the joint Ministers to determine the skills that are needed by panel members on a case-by-case basis.

Accordingly, we recommend Section 7, part (1) (c) and (d), and part (2) of the Bill be removed.

We believe these recommended changes will not only help to ensure that Ministers have greater flexibility to make this legislation work as it should, but that the new Government does not breach their crucial commitment to equality before the law made to the public of New Zealand.  

Yours sincerely,
Dr Muriel Newman
New Zealand Centre for Political Research

Dr Muriel Newman, a former Member of Parliament, runs the New Zealand Centre for Political Research public policy think tank at www.nzcpr.com.